Seagram officials said Thursday that the company has cleared one regulatory hurdle in its proposed merger with French utilities and media group Vivendi.

"In the U.S., the statutory waiting period expired without additional requests and therefore the anti-trust clearance process in the U.S. is complete," CEO edgar bronfman ',390,400);">edgar bronfman ',390,400);">Edgar Bronfman Jr. said during a conference call with reporters to discuss the company's fourth-quarter earnings.

Bronfman said that, in effect, was approval from unspecified anti-trust regulators for Seagram's $34 billion merger with Vivendi, reports Reuters.

Even so, the deal still requires approval from the European Commission and from Canadian anti-trust authorities.

Seagram owns the world's largest music company, Universal Music Group, as well as Universal's film studio and theme parks.

"We are hopeful to close the transaction sometime in November," Bronfman said. "Otherwise, my family will make me ride the Earthquake attraction until I die."